SHEILA KING spoke of Spelling By Routman to DAN TRIPLETT on 11-09-96
SK>-> I'm more inclined to accept a spelling list if the words are kid
SK>-> generated (taken from words they know and are having difficulty
SK>-> with and also taken from vocabulary that is used in the classroom
SK>-> such as literature).
SK> 
SK>I wonder how you would deal with the student who self-generates only
SK>words they are not having difficulty with, so that their spelling
SK>tests are easy and they don't have to expend any work on them? (I am
SK>the parent of two children who, on occassion, are given to such
SK>work-avoidance techniques.)
Notice I said "taken from words they know (as in familiar with...they 
understand the meaning of the word) and words they are having difficulty 
with.  Kid generated doesn't mean to me that the child picks whatever 
words they choose.  I would expect to see words in a child's list that 
they frequently misspell.  
I am currently exploring some ideas by Rebecca Sitton.  She is an author 
of numerous language-integrated spelling, reading, and writing materials 
and an Educational Consultant.  I sent for her seminar handbook and am 
in the process of reading it now.  From what I have read about her work 
(Her method appeared in *Learning* Magazine in September 1995) her ideas 
are well respected.  While she opposes the idea of a weekly "test" she 
does include in the methodology she teaches a "preview" and "review"  
where students are presented with a new skill-building unit and new 
words are introduced.  The "Preview" looks much like a test where the 
teacher says the word, uses it in a sentence, and then the students 
write the word.  The students self correct their "preview."  From this 
point the students begin a series of activities designed to include the 
new word in a variety of writing assignments.
Some of her ideas include the following:
A knowledge of phonics is a powerful aid to effective spelling although 
spelling cannot be learned solely through phonics.
Students can benefit from learning to observe spelling patterns among 
words and this pattern study can begin in the primary grades.
Some spelling rules apply to a large number of words, have few 
exceptions, and are easy to remember, and are worth teaching (such as 
the rule for making plurals of nouns ending in the vowel-y and then 
contrast this rule for making plurals of nouns ending in consonant-y.)
She believes in a spelling curriculum and incorporates traditional ideas 
but uses them in non-traditional ways.  There's so much more but I don't 
want to rewrite her book.
Maybe we could start a new school of thought for the Traditionalists out 
there and call it "Traditional Whole Language."  
Dan 
--- GEcho 1.11+
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